World Report

TOKYO Japan's oldest person has died at a hospital in southwestern Japan, her nursing home said Saturday. She was 113.

Tsuneyo Toyonaga, who became the country's oldest person last August, died Friday, days after she was transferred to a nearby hospital because she lost her appetite, said Masuko Yamamoto, deputy director of the Yume-no-Sato nursing home in the southern city of Nangoku.

Born on May 21, 1894, Toyonaga had been in the nursing home the last 12 years. She was a darling among caretakers and fellow residents, Yamamoto said.

"She was dozing off most of the day recently but when she was awake she used to enjoy singing children's songs. Once she started singing she wouldn't stop until we all got tired and had to stop her," she said.

Toyonaga is survived by five children and 10 grandchildren, Kyodo News agency said.

Searchers look for downed plane in Venezuela

MERIDA, Venezuela Investigators searched through the shattered wreckage of a plane that slammed into an Andean mountainside with 46 aboard, working in freezing temperatures Saturday to find clues and recover victims' remains.

Sixteen specialists, including crash investigators and forensic experts, were dropped off by helicopter near the crash site on the steep, foggy slope at an altitude of 13,500 feet, said Gen. Ramon Vinas, head of the civil aviation authority.

Amid the wreckage, searchers recovered the plane's two "black boxes" cockpit voice and data recorders that could indicate what went wrong. Investigators say the pilot made no distress call before the crash.

Hamas accuses Fatah faction of torture

KOBAR, West Bank A Hamas preacher died in the custody of the Palestinian intelligence service and his family alleged Saturday that he had been tortured by interrogators from the rival Fatah faction.

Authorities confirmed the death of 44-year-old Majed Barghouti at an intelligence lockup in the West Bank city of Ramallah, which is controlled by Fatah forces loyal to Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas.

Citing reports from fellow detainees, Barghouti's family alleged he had been tortured before dying on Friday, a week after his arrest. The Islamic militant group Hamas denounced the death as a crime.